1. 80% of the most commonly used features, for beginners, in Excel can be done with two toolbars. A toolbar is the icons that are under the menus that are in text format (File, Edit, etc.). You should have the Standard toolbar and the Format toolbar on your screen. To make sure they are, go to the View menu and select Toolbars. There should be a checkmark next to Standard and Format. If one of these does not have a checkmark, highlight the menu option with the left mouse button. The toolbar will be displayed.

2. You can use Control (Ctrl) keys to do a lot of functions. For example, hold down the Ctrl key and press the S key and the file will be saved. Ctrl + P will print the document. Ctrl + B will Bold letter the text or number.   There are many more. For a complete listing click on the link at the end of this article and you can download a free copy.

3. You do not have to use the mouse to navigate to a specific cell. You can use the arrow keys (left, up, down, right), or the PgUp and PgDn keys. Enter will go down one cell, and the Tab key will go to the next cell to the right. Holding down the Ctrl key and pressing the Home key will go to the first cell. Ctrl and the End key will go to the last cell.

4. Excel can look at what you typed in and follow the sequence. For example, if you typed in the word Monday, you can use a technique to have the next cell display Tuesday, etc. Say for example you type in Monday. Move back to the cell that contains Monday and you will notice on the bottom right of the cell that there is a little square. This is called a handle. Using your mouse carefully put the mouse cursor over the little square. The cursor will turn into a + sign. Click the left mouse button down and while continuing to hold down the button move your mouse down (or to the right). Go down or to the right seven cells while holding down the left mouse button. (A cell is the intersection of a row and column.) Let go of the mouse button and the seven days of the week will be displayed. This works for time, numbers, months, calendar, quarters, and a couple of others.

5. All formulas and functions begin with the equal sign. For example to add 1 and 2 together, the formula would be =1+2.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Try the following Excel keyboard shortcuts. They can really make your life easier.

Ctrl + A Select all cells

Ctrl + Home Go to cell A1

Ctrl + End Go to last cell in the range

Ctrl+ Shift+ End Select from active cell to last cell in the range

Ctrl+Shift+Home Select from active cell to A1

Ctrl + Page Down Go to next worksheet

Ctrl + Page Up Go to previous worksheet